Kirby Smart Inks New Seven Year Deal

In only two seasons as Georgia head coach, it did not take long for Saban apprentice Kirby Smart to receive a brand new 7-year extension worth $49 million which will run through 2024. What is the biggest deal of all is that Smart returned to his alma-mater to turn the program around left by now Miami (FL) head coach Mark Richt, who was let go at the end of 2015. How else did Smart earn this new lengthy extension? Lessons learned and a quick trip back to the center stage of college football.

After what was considered a test run in his first season, Georgia went 8-5 beating TCU in the Liberty Bowl while the following year saw going 13-2, winning their first SEC Championship since 2005 defeating Auburn, and beating Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, the first SEC team to win the oldest bowl in history since Alabama beat USC in 1946. As the number 3 seed in the College Football Playoff, they advanced to their first national championship game before falling to Alabama in overtime.

Despite losing the biggest prize in college football, the NFL Draft made a huge impact on the 2017 team in the aftermath, having three players go in the first round for the first time in school history. Though only six players total got drafted, five more signed free agent deals, bringing the total to 11. Alabama fared way better after the fact, setting their own school record of 12 drafted with four signed on as free agents totaling 16. Most of these Alabama defensive players played under Smart as defensive coordinator which is the reason for the link.

It’s not very often a former player returns to his alma mater and turns around a team that quickly, but Smart did so in just two years time. Smart kept the players he had and brought in his own staff starting from scratch which is usually not easy. Even Saban did so going undefeated in 2008 before falling to Tim Tebow and Florida in the SEC Championship game. But in this case, Smart did even better in his sophomore season as head coach.